What actually happened with the Florida professor fired for teaching a short story?

Seeing headlines about a college professor fired over an assigned reading, now suing the school. What's the story here?

Vinita Prabhakar, who had taught English at South Florida State College since 2023 (and had nearly two decades of teaching experience overall), was fired after assigning Ottessa Moshfegh's award-winning short story "Bettering Myself" in a Freshman English course — she'd used it for years as part of a lesson on unreliable narrators, alongside authors like Raymond Carver. According to the lawsuit, filed in late July 2026 with representation from the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE), one student told her the story made them uncomfortable; Prabhakar acknowledged the discomfort and offered to discuss it further. The complaint alleges that SFSC President Fred Hawkins subsequently ordered her to stop teaching the story, calling it "political," and that she was placed on leave and let go once the semester ended after her department chair, dean, and the college's vice president had all otherwise supported her. She's suing the college's Board of Trustees and Hawkins individually, alleging a First Amendment violation. As of the filing, the college had not publicly responded to the allegations, and the case was pending in federal court, so no ruling has been made on the claims.